title: Determination of the physicochemical constants and spectrophotometric characteristics of the metallochromic Zincon and its potential use in biological systems.
abstract: In this work we report a detailed characterization of the metallochromic Zincon. Zincon forms complexes with Zn2+ and Cu2+, producing change in colour; the complexes with Fe2+, Mn2+ and Ca2+ cause the bleaching of the Zincon solutions. Mg2+ does not interact with Zincon nor does it change its spectral characteristics. The presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+ does not interfere with the spectral characteristics of the Zn-Zincon complex. The Kd, Ks and delta epsilon values for the complexes were determined. The delta epsilon values were very high, making this spectrophotometric method very sensitive. The complex Zn-Zincon is fully reversible; however, the complex Cu-Zincon is only partially reversible. The free Zincon, and the complexes Zn-Zincon and Cu-Zincon, does not partition into organic solvents, does not permeate liposome membrane, and neither does it interact with biological membranes. All these characteristics make the metallochromic Zincon useful in biological systems.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioenergética, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM, México D.F.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hilario
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Celis
mesh_terms: D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D004058:Diffusion; D005562:Formazans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D008081:Liposomes; D008566:Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008670:Metals; D012997:Solvents; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D015032:Zinc
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005562:Formazans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008081:Liposomes; D008670:Metals; D012997:Solvents; C009809:2-carboxy-2'-hydroxy-5'-sulfoformazylbenzene; D015032:Zinc